South African vessel to support Antarctic research
Shipbuilder STX Finland has built a state of the art polar research vessel for the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) for use in the Antarctic.
The SA Agulhas II was built by STX Finland to support the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE IV) base on the Antarctic continent. The vessel will be operating in the Antarctic’s harsh conditions and open water providing support to the base. It will be used to carry supplies, personnel and researchers to the base as well as to Marion and Gough Islands where biological, environmental and climate change research will take place.
The SA Agulhas II has been built to replace the SA Agulhas following 33 years in service. The modified vessel has been fitted with eight permanent laboratories and six containerised laboratories to help carry out mobile research. In addition to climate change and scientific research, the vessel’s weather station will also transmit data back to South African Weather Services.
Ice trails were recently carried out to test and analyse the ice loading on the hull and propulsion in order to create a scientific basis for design of ice-going ships.
The vessel will embark for Antarctica in December this year.
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